


In the heat of the night (yes, you're my love)

by lei___aj



Series: Hold me tight (I can't breath without you) [3]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Comics), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Iron Man (Comic), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Imagine them meeting somewhere after IM3 and GOTG and before Avengers 2, Iron Lord - Freeform, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Starkquill - Freeform, what an idea though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-24
Updated: 2014-10-24
Packaged: 2018-02-22 10:39:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2504834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lei___aj/pseuds/lei___aj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Peter wonders if Tony tried to fix Avengers, too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the heat of the night (yes, you're my love)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a mix between 616 and MCU Universes. Basically, it's my own Universe. Yeah, the one where Tony Stark is happy.
> 
> This fic implies that Avengers are dicks.
> 
> English is my second language so I'm sorry for any mistakes.

It all happens too fast for Peter to even realise what he’s doing.

Guardians are at some earth press-conference because they’ve decided to visit Tony and of course genius said that it would be great for earthlings to know folks who save their world day after day, right?

And of course the host had to ask what Stark’s opinion about them was.

There’s this shy smile on his face for a second that always makes Peter sick and brings up a strong desire to hug Tony, to hold him tight to chase all his insecurities.

This smile reminds him of that time before they even met, when Tony had to face his fears alone while saving the president and the country whilst other superheroes were having X-mas parties. What villain choses to be Mandarin, anyway?

"Well," Tony says leaning closer so that his shoulder brushes Quill’s, "there was this time when I didn’t know what to do, when nothing made sense. And then I met the Guardians. You know, it was like finding family I never had. Rocket is a sarcastic ass, but in a good way, mind you. He cares, just doesn’t want you to find out. "

Rocket glares but keeps quiet.

"Gamora is this awesome master assassin that can hand your ass to you," Tony’s smile is affectionate so she lets it go this time but she’s definitely going to have her come back, "but when she cares, she does it with her whole heart."

"Drax is, well, not good with metaphors, we enjoy messing with him, telling him something new. But the guy has a golden heart, so, yeah," Drax nods at him nonverbally thanking him for every explanation Tony gives him whenever the need arises.

"And Groot…" Tony poses.

"I’m Groot," Groot says.

"Yeah, I love you, too, buddy," Stark agrees and all Guardians begin to laugh because it never ceases to amuse them that Tony can understand Groot’s language. Avengers just glare at them but it doesn’t matter.

"As for Peter, I can’t even put my gratitude into words - it’ll sound like a poor excuse of what I should tell him. Seriously, what can I say to a person who saved my live on a multiple occasions? He’s given me a place I can call "home", and I can’t remember anyone ever doing it for me. He made me believe that things don’t have to be the way they are. Peter accepted me, made me one of the Guardians. He’s given me more reasons to fight every day and I’m not talking about some super villains."

"It sounds like you two are in love," the host says and it’s meant to be a joke, it’s meant to make laugh but Peter loses it.

"It’s because we are," he says and then leans in, gently takes Tony’s face in his hands and gives him the longest and the most passionate and affectionate kiss he could master.

The silence around them blows up.

***  
The walk to the Tower is long and silent. Peter holds Tony’s hand in his, and Tony’s hands are cold, they are always so cold after Afghanistan, after the reactor messed up Tony’s chest and sometimes Tony wakes up at night suffocating just because he was lying in bed with too much pressure on that damn thing. But the reactor is beautiful and perfect like everything Tony does, like everything he wants the world to see him be, but he’s far from it and it makes Peter warm inside.

Tony isn’t mad right now, Peter knows, he’s not worried about someone writing a lousy article about him. Tony’s worried about what people will think about the Guardians now that they know about their little affair. People will be asking Peter nasty questions because modern reporters are cold blooded sharks, they will tear you apart to know your private thoughts and then they’ll leave you cut open, suffocating when there will be nothing else to bare, nothing else to hide.

But damn it all, Peter can’t forget how it felt to know that from all the people Tony has chosen him and has trusted him and the team enough to tell them some awful facts from his past. 

And this is a true hero, Quill thinks, a person who sacrifices a lot but never lets other people know what the payment was. Tony has paid enough for his mistakes but he still tries to make things better, he always tries to fix things even if they are broken beyond repair. And every time Tony manages to put together something shuttered, something wrong and unreal. Peter still doesn’t understand how Tony fixes himself time after time, fall after fall. 

When Tony first met the Guardians, he tried to fix them. What’s surprising is that he really made things better – it was nice to suddenly find out that some lost Earth man cares enough about alien strangers to sit and talk to them. Tony always finds the right words for each of the group, and his silent acceptance and readiness to share his own painful experiences makes it easy to just spill everything out. They’ve told him awful things about themselves. Tony paid them with the same coin. 

But for Peter Tony was also a link to his long ago abandoned planet. The amount of things that make Tony Stark into the man he is turned out to be overwhelming. He’s alive and everything in him screams about it – his favorite music bands, his stupid T-shirts, his sarcastic remarks full of pop-culture references, his smiles, his posture and even the way his hair is messed up because he always runs his hands – cold hands, never warm, never – through. 

Right now Tony is still, and it’s so wrong, it makes Peter feel cold and small, it reminds him of that time when his yet-to-be lover lay motionless on the floor of Milano, blue light gone in his chest. They didn’t know Stark very well then, but after that accident with EMF some villain used they learned what that thing, the arc reactor, was for. 

Tony was afraid that it would make them see him as weak, helpless. But instead Rocket looked him right in the eye and said, “Ya do realize that this thing in ya chest proves that it’s hard to brake ya, right?”

Tony was many things but helpless was not one of them. Yeah, they all still remember that time when Stark was kidnapped during some battle for the Universe. The Guardians found him later. When he hacked the villains’ main system, saved the Guardians and blew up the intruders’ mother ship.

Avengers are glaring (and that blond guy is definitely sulking, but Peter refuses to think about it, thank you very much), and Guardians comes closer to the pair so that Gamora and Drax are now marching alongside Peter, leaving Groot and Rocket to guard Tony’s side. The Guardians glare back as if daring any of the other group to say something. They, the Avengers, know better as it seems.

Peter knows that they have no right to judge Tony, because he’s not even an Avenger and in what fucking Universe does that even make sense? Nothing stops them from using Stark’s money though.

Peter sometimes wonders if that’s why Tony loves outer space so much. Nobody knows the guy there and nobody’s paying him any attention – he can do anything he wants. Quill understands how he feels. Star Lord has been in the spot light as prince for too long and lack of attention back at Earth makes him at ease. In space no one needs Tony’s money or his brain – Earth’s currency doesn’t exist there and even best Stark’s technology is already outdated by at list 50 years in the best case.

Sometimes Peter wonders if Tony tried to fix Avengers, too. Did he try this talking thing when you’re supposed to share some facts about your past? He tried, Peter sees it in his slumped shoulders, in his eyes, in his weary smile. It didn’t work out the way it should have. It’s really hard to make a point when people expect something from you just because they think they know you. It’s not fair to Tony, who always tries to avoid his reputation.

Tony squeezes his hand in silent gratitude, and Peter thanks every God he knows for being able to see Tony for who he really is.

A hero too tired of fighting but fighting nevertheless.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to visit my [tumblr](http://valerishka-s.tumblr.com/) and to leave some prompts!


End file.
